In a conventional data processing apparatus such as an electronic typewriter or a word processor, typically there is provided therewith a dictionary memory for storing a plurality of words, a spelling check is conducted for each input word, and when a misspelled word is detected a candidate word which is to be used for correcting the misspelled word is retrieved from the dictionary memory to be displayed, and the misspelled word is replaced by the correctly spelled word.
In such a conventional data processing apparatus, when a plurality of misspelled words are detected, it is not possible to display the candidate word corresponding to the misspelled word at each of a plurality of positions, and it is not possible to see a candidate word corresponding to the next misspelled word until an instruction is provided by the user indicating as to whether a particular misspelled word should be replaced by the correctly spelled word corresponding to that particular misspelled word.
Such apparatus, therefore, does not have the facility to select the most appropriate word from among a plurality of candidate words, i.e., potentially correctly spelled replacement words, through the comparison and examination of the relationships with misspelled words detected at a plurality of positions and the candidate words and this results in reduced precision and a low efficiency in the data input operation.